The report is based on a first of its kind survey conducted to gauge readiness of Indian manufacturing to adopt advanced manufacturing. It highlights the industry’s perspective through a survey of business leaders (including board members, CXOs and other senior leadership) of more than 50 leading engineering companies in India.
Under ‘National Manufacturing Policy’ (NMP), the government envisages to increase the contribution of manufacturing from 15% to 25% of GDP by 2022. ‘Make in India’ is positioning India as a global manufacturing hub. Advanced manufacturing will enable Indian manufacturers to not only be cost competitive but also enable access to developed markets through technologically advanced products. Thus it is critical for Indian manufacturers to adopt advanced manufacturing to ensure success of the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The report identifies select focus areas for the manufacturing industry to compete at the global level through adoption of the advanced manufacturing trends.
The report identifies four key trends that encompass several of these technologies, namely – Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Robotics, Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) and Augmented Reality. As per the report, the industry perceives productivity improvement and quality consistency as the most critical advantages of advanced manufacturing. It also adds that large and mid-sized companies (revenue more than INR 250Cr) consider advanced manufacturing more relevant to their businesses as compared to smaller companies.
Commenting on the report Shripad Ranade, Practice Head – Automotive & Engineering, Tata Strategic Management Group, said, “The changing global and Indian scenario has made it important for the industry to consider leapfrogging towards the advanced manufacturing trends. It is imperative for stakeholders to improve the adoption by focusing on driving awareness of these trends, emulating global best practices, forging industry-academia connect and up-skilling workforce”
As per the report, currently only 10% of companies have already adopted advanced manufacturing, while 80% plan to adopt the same by 2020. The adoption is expected to be led by MNCs and large Indian companies and finds that the Indian family owned companies have lower willingness to adopt advanced manufacturing with more than half the companies planning to adopt only after more than 3 years. It also highlights that remaining competitive vis-a-vis peers is a primary driver for adoption while quantifying Return on Investment (RoI) is cited as the most critical hindrance for adoption.
Abhishek Bagwe, Engagement Manager – Engineering & Infrastructure, Tata Strategic Management Group, added, “The advanced manufacturing trends will have far reaching impact on Indian manufacturing. It has potential to alter business models of many companies. MNCs and several large Indian companies have already taken steps in the right direction. The Indian SME sector also needs to step up before it is too late.”
Source: Economic Times